Blog | Alison Morton Author

Romans and steampunk?

Today, I don’t only have a guest, I’m actually swapping blogs with Daniel Ottalini, another ‘Roman nut’ but with a difference…

Daniel Ottalini is the author of The Steam Empire Series, a fantastical Roman and steampunk story brought to life in his debut novel, Brass Legionnaire. Daniel has been an avid reader all his life, starting at the grand old age of three. It’s always been his dream to write a novel and Brass Legionnaire was the winner of the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition’s 2013 eBook Awards for best Action Adventure Novel. Daniel’s second book, Copper Centurion, was published in May 2013. When not writing in his miniscule free time, Daniel is a full time teacher, part-time tutor, and full-time video-game aficionado. He also enjoys many outdoor activities such as soccer and hiking.

Over to Daniel…

Before I begin, let me say that it is an honor to be swapping blog postings with Alison today. You see, when I first started writing Brass Legionnaire, I clung to the idea that it was unique; special amongst the wide variety of Victorian era steampunk as an alternate history featuring Romans and their fancy steampunk arsenal. Discovering someone who has not only created a world where Roman culture and ideas have survived in addition to an actual Roman state (not Italy, as much as it pretends to be!) was a wonderful experience.

There is a reason that Europe has been a centerpiece of technological and cultural development in our history. Whereas the Muslim empires became great through their increased access to trade, technology and the exchange of ideas through various means, Europe went the opposite direction. War.

When the Western Roman Empire fell, it splintered into a haphazard variety of petty kingdoms, dukedoms, tribal areas and successor kingdoms. This complete diversity, and lack of overwhelmingly powerful successor kingdoms, as had happened to Alexander the Great’s empire, ensured that there was not one powerful area able to control the others. From this conflict grew the lust for new technologies to bash your opponent’s head with. Countries could be attacked, but it was difficult to conquer. The geography of Europe makes this so. Think about who, after the Romans, was able to conquer Europe? Charlemagne? Napoleon? Hitler? Never since Roman times could one civilization conquer, subsume and influence the others for such a long period of time. The closeness of European nations makes keeping technology secret impossible, while the geographic barriers – rivers, mountains, terrain and even weather (I’m looking at you, Mother Russia!) prevents those same forces from maintaining control through force of arms alone.

This is why steampunk is considered so very English/British, and not French or German or Russian. Each of those countries has been conquered by outsiders, whereas England, with the Channel separating it from the troubles of the mainland, has remained protected since 1066. Thus, England, especially Victorian England, benefited from the spread of technology, while also being safe from the consequences of it. Which leads us to another point.

What if Rome had not fallen and allowed the creation of an independent England?

Could a Rome, more concerned about external foes, have embarked on a massive technological research project? Many examples of medieval technology – crossbows being a prime example – could have been created using ancient technology and some small advances in materials. Small advances lead to bigger ones. All it takes is a hefty treasure chest, which the Romans definitely had.

So Rome could have become the technological superpower it is in my novels. The challenge in writing is not to create Rome itself, but to create a Rome where the technological advances make sense, not just tacked on to make a book ‘steampunk.’

To build steampunk into your world, you must first examine your world. What are some creatures your characters fear? Hold holy or important? Aztecs would hold eagles in awe, Chinese the dragon. My Romans? The same creature that terrified and awed them since the Punic Wars – the African elephant. Take that, make it machine and not animal, and voilà, a creature that makes sense and is connected to Roman history.

I’ve tried really hard to keep my technology in pace with the time period. Imagine if there had been no Dark Ages? Without that, technology would have continued to advance. And yet, my Romans are not running around with machine guns or repeating rifles for two reasons.

First, the natural tendency for such a large empire is to become complacent. Even fighting several wars, if you win the wars with the technology you have currently, why bother to develop new weapons or machines? That’s the problem my Romans are currently facing, which will be revealed in the upcoming novella Antioch Burns.

Second, the Romans themselves were traditionalists, but also rampant technology stealers. The gladius, trademark Roman weapon, is originally Iberian, not Roman. The development of heavy cavalry armies is a Persian and barbarian idea, not Roman. So my Romans have stolen an idea (gunpowder) but adapted it to meet their current weapons – ballista and scorpions – not develop muskets or cannon. Why create something new when you can modify something that works perfectly?

So, to summarize the talking points and actually make sense for all of you:

Understand your culture. What it fears, what it loves.
Match your technology to your culture and time period. It helps even more if you can use a famous inventor who created or had similar ideas to design your technology (which is why so many steampunk authors have Tesla building lightning guns for their characters).
Make your enemies smart, not cardboard cutouts. In Copper Centurion, my second novel, their opponents, the pseudo-Viking Nortlanders, have their own mechanical beast – the mechwolf. Needless to say, it surprises the Romans, who have a slight superiority complex, and creates some major challenges for their men as they march north.
Use technology wisely. Technology does not, and should not, replace the human part of your story. I use technology to move people, to assist people, but never replace the human element. In the end, it is down to the one guy or gal making the decision.

When in doubt, read a history book. They are full of great ideas. Alternatively, play a video game such as Civilization or Total War. These games offer endless opportunities to create something new (Just imagine if the Byzantines had conquered Mecca and burned it to the ground using paratroopers? Or if the Chinese had stopped the Mongolian invasion at the gates of Peking with fully functional cannons, not measly fireworks?).

Alternate history allows us to play in a large playground. But just because it can be alternate, doesn’t mean you can forget the history.

Well said, Daniel! Thank you for a terrific post with great tips that can be used by writers in many genres apart from our own, especially mainstream historical fiction.

Daniel’s latest book, Copper Centurion, Part II of the The Steam Empire Series, published last month, is available on Amazon US and Amazon UK. Part I, Brass Legionnaire is available from Amazon US and Amazon UK

Find out more about Daniel at danielottalni.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanielOttalini
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DOttalini

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers, INCEPTIO, and PERFIDITAS. Third in series, SUCCESSIO, is now out.

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Telling people about your treasure

Having mixed with book people – writers, editors, agents, publishers, literary consultants and commentators – for three years before I published my first book, INCEPTIO, I knew it would be a slog to make it known to the reading public.

Amongst others, Catherine Ryan Howard’s excellent blog gave me wisdom, knowledge and tough love about self-publishing. I would point anybody considering the self-publishing/indie route to read her blogpost about promotion before even considering it.

Thus, I set about creating my social platforms – blog, Facebook, Twitter. Today, we have the huge privilege of being able to connect to the world to find not only top books, but also people we wouldn’t otherwise know. And yes, it has made INCEPTIO known to people. And yes, to garner some delightful book reviews.

But you know what? I fell in love with social media for its own sake. I have met warm, witty, insightful and generous people on every continent. They’ve led me to others, to places to I’d never have visited and experiences I would never have had. I’ve joined and contributed to groups, ezones and forums. And many of these virtual friends and acquaintances have bought my ebook. 😉

But I can’t deny the other twin – talking about your book and handing your beautiful paperback to live human beings, whether at a book launch where fifty-odd people have gathered, or a smaller group in book clubs, one-to-one at a village fête or book signing or even over lunch.

Sometimes independent authors have their books stocked in local bookshops, but often they need to be a little imaginative to get visibility, hence my participation in the Books on the Underground scheme. Now that was fun!

And after a while you can start giving back, telling others about your journey or what you have learned either through research or just hard work. I was delighted to explain about alternate history writing in the July edition of Writing Magazine (preview at left) and I’ll be contributing as a panel member at the Nine Worlds conference in August. And INCEPTIO will come with me…

You can buy INCEPTIO as an ebook or paperback or even an author signed copy. All links are here.

INCEPTIO at Oxford Circus

INCEPTIO is at Oxford Circus! You can’t get more central than that.

I wonder where its next stop will be travelling around the London Underground.

Books on the Underground is a fabulous scheme – books travelling around the London Underground network waiting to be read. Apart from some publicity for the author, the other benefit is that somebody may pick it up who doesn’t usually read novels or who hasn’t visited a bookshop or library for a long time.

They may discover they can see into other worlds or lose themselves in somebody else’s story or make new discoveries.

And that’s a good thing.

If you see INCEPTIO, be sure to take a photo and send it to me

More about the scheme here:
http://booksontheunderground.tumblr.com

I've been awarded the Liebster Blog award

My thanks to Henriette Gyland for awarding me a Liebster Blog Award (‘Liebster’ is German for ‘favourite’).

The rules of the Liebster Award are:

Thank your Liebster Blog Award nominator on your blog and link back to the blogger who presented this award to you;
Answer the eleven questions from the nominator;
List eleven random facts about yourself:
(Mine are bizarre rather than random 😉 )
Present the Liebster Blog Award to up to eleven other blogs that you feel deserve to be noticed and leave a comment on their blog letting them know they have been chosen;
Pass on the eleven questions to your nominees, or create new ones;
Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

I’m exhausted already, so I’ll take a rest while you read my answers to Henriette’s questions:

1. What’s your favourite novel and what do you love about it?
Currently, William Boyd’s Restless – spies, Second World War, betrayal on personal and political levels, Cold War, class, alienation, two strong women leads and beautiful prose. What more could you want? As a child, I loved anything by Rosemary Sutcliff, The Emerald Crown by Violet Needham and all of Narnia. My most dog-eared book in my late teens was Katherine by Anya Seton.

2. Do you have any pet peeves in fiction?
Boring plotting

3. What are you most proud of?
Seeing my son graduate at Nottingham Uni was a high moment (in all senses), but recently, holding a printed copy of my first book, INCEPTIO, made my hands tingle and my brain sing.

4. Your most and least favourite people in history?
Likes:
Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher and maths professor who was murdered by a Christian mob in AD 415 – an intelligent woman challenging irrationality and dogma;
Julian the Apostate, philosopher and reformer and last non-Christian Roman Emperor who survived Constantinian dynastic murders;
Aphra Behn, spy, dramatist and the first professional woman writer;
Charles II, survivor, style icon, patron of the arts and science and of the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Mary Wollstonecraft, whose “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” laid down a clear moral and practical basis for extending human and political rights to women.
Dislikes:
Irrational dictators – pick any one you like from the usual suspects.

5. The country, city or other place you’d most like to visit?
Slovenia – the geographical model for Roma Nova (It will be soon!)

6. Which five people would you like to meet (dead, alive, or fictional)?
All the likes in the question 4. above, plus
Mary Beard, Classics professor, Newnham College, and fab television presenter of the Romans;
George Clooney, a clever (and gorgeous) actor and political activist;
Michael Portillo, presenter, wit and charming man.
I know it’s more than five… oops!

7. What makes you laugh the most?
Have I Got News For You!

8. If you could know the future, what would you wish for?
I don’t think I’d like to know the future, unless it features my books selling in the millions …

9. If you won the lottery and could donate money to charity, which charity would you choose – and why?
SSAFA – Soldiers’ Sailors’ and Airforce Families’ Association – which supports serving and veteran members of all branches of the armed services. Going since 1885 so they have a bit of experience! Why? Because I’m ex-military, as were many members of my family, and SSAFA helps on the ground, especially families.

10. Do you suffer from any little phobias or superstitions?
Not really. I don’t like stinging, buzzy things.

11 What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?
Admitting to liking Ryanair

Eleven random facts about me…

I jumped “voluntarily” into a deep pond of freezing water in the Arctic Circle – it was called NATO training.
My favourite food is any kind of seafood, except whelks and snaily things.
My favourite piece of clothing is a pair of jeans.
I’ve walked along the watercourse of the Pont du Gard, France, until they closed it on H&S grounds.
Thirty years after my first degree in modern languages and economics, I went back and bagged an MA in history (with distinction!) at the Open University.
I have shocking handwriting and not much better typing.
I’m a full Member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists.
I’ve danced “sur le pont d’Avignon”.
Am a proud bearer of the Cycling Proficiency certificate (and pennant!).
I love networking.
Traumatised from being forced to choose between Latin and history at school (Still sobs at dilemma).

And that’s enough about me.

So my nominees are: (Yes, I have asked them.):

Charlotte Betts – A Writer’s Journey
Anita Chapman – Neetswriter’s blog
Amanda James – Mandy’s Musings
Deborah Carr – Debs Dreams in the Plotting Shed
Rebecca Leith’s Blog

These blogs are beautiful, fascinating and written by people with spirit and warmth.

Thank you again to Henriette for nominating me for the Liebster Award.

Matt Mitrovich and a Clockwork Tale

Today, we concentrate on alternating history. I’m delighted to be hosting Matt Mitrovich, the founder and editor of highly rated Alternate History Weekly Update and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake’s Monthly, The Masquerade Crew and his own writing blog. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Welcome Matt! Tell us how you got started in creative writing?
I’ve been an avid reader most of my life and like most book worms I had the desire see my own name in print. I wanted to see my ideas and characters come to life.

There wasn’t any official path I took to get there. I studied history at Bradley University and law at The John Marshall Law School. I would often write down my ideas, but they were just brainstorming sessions not real writing. I talked about writing a lot to the point where everyone knew about my desire to be an author. It took a co-worker, however, who asked me if I had actually written anything to make me realize I wasn’t following my dream.

In 2011, I finished my first short story, which has sadly never seen the light of day. Still your first try is usually not that good and I have had more success with follow-up works such as A Perfect Hell on Earth and Revenants in Warfare.

So what drew you particularly to alternate history and specifically steampunk? And can you remember the first alternate history story you read?
It was a combination of my love of history and science fiction. History was my favourite subject in school. I got in the most trouble with the teachers during history because I would read ahead and not pay attention to where the class was. My teachers couldn’t complain too much, however, since I always got As on the tests.

Then there was reading. I love the classics, but sometimes I feel we force them to early on kids before they can appreciate them. Reading was tough for me until I started getting into science fiction. It began with Animorphs and the Star Wars expanded universe and dovetailed from there. It was only a matter of time before my two loves met.

That was on one fateful day when I arrived at a book store at River Oaks Mall near my home. I had every intention of getting a new Star Wars book that day, since I just finished one in a series and wanted to get the next instalment. Before I could leave with my prize, however, I saw the cover of Worldwar: In the Balance by Harry Turtledove.

I knew enough about World War II to realize that this picture was very, very wrong. There was no way Adolf Hitler or Winston Churchill would ever take a picture life this, especially in front of a gun that was not from the war…or this planet. Intrigued, I picked up the book and checked it out, learning it was about an alien invasion during World War II.

I probably never read a book faster. For a couple days it was all I did with my free time. It was an amazing book and completely sold me on alternate history. Afterwards I began searching for more information about alternate history and continued to read the rest of the Worldwar series and other books in the genre. A new hobby quickly became an obsession.

My discovery of steampunk isn’t as exciting. Steampunk often goes hand in hand with alternate history so I was always aware of it. During college I became a student of the European Imperialism of the 19th and 20th centuries, which is the prime historical period for most steampunk works. It was only recently that I began to read more of the genre. It has its hits and misses, but when it hits it hits hard.

You’re the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update. Tell us a little what it is and why you started it.
Alternate History Weekly Update is a group blog providing news, reviews and opinions on alternate history and related genres. We are always accepting submissions for article and we sometimes hold contests, like our DBWI writing contest running in June. Next month we are celebrating our two year anniversary.

Two years of constant blogging and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunities it provided. It finally allowed me to get the confidence to write my own fiction, it introduced me to wonderful and intelligent friends and it helped me enter the larger world of fandom with my new gig blogging for the relaunched Amazing Stories.

Why I started The Update is difficult to explain. Two years ago I worked as a contract attorney, doing temporary e-discovery assignments for companies and firms around the Chicago area. It certainly was not what I expected to be doing out of law school. While I was grateful to be paid while still working in the industry, I felt like I had little control over my own life. My wife said there were days where I came home irritated, depressed and generally miserable. I needed to do something just to stay sane.

As I mentioned before, writing had come back to the forefront of my mind after a co-worker had called me out on all my big talk. Thinking of something to write about, however, seemed like a daunting prospect. I didn’t have any ideas for stories. I wanted to write alternate history and thought I could post short scenarios and see what people thought. I would post it to my own blog so I could make the rules and not be under the thumb of a moderator or administrator.

Turns out blogs like that are dime a dozen. I wanted something different and unique. I thought hard and realized something. There was no single place to get general information about the genre itself. Most SF websites will cover an alternate history work at some point, but it is rare and they are often ignored by most genre fans. Even worse, the forums and wikis alternate historians congregated at seemed to be full of people who professed a love of the genre, but were ignorant of the people, works and story of the genre.

So I set out to rectify that problem. I wanted to keep people up to date, but I wanted to start slow. I decided to post a summary of week’s alternate history news just once a week. It wasn’t a stretch after that to call it “Alternate History Weekly Update”. Afterwards, I was amazed to discover how easy it was to write an article once a week. Last June I was writing 10 articles a week. Now, however, I have found a more sustainable goal of 5 articles a week. This allows me to turn my attention to other projects…and keeps my wife happy.

How do you research the technical and historic background to your stories?
I use the Internet mostly. I always found Wikipedia to be a good starting point, but it is never the end of my research. I also have a collection of relatively up to date historical textbooks that I found helpful and there is always the rare occasion I actually stop by a library…although I tend to get lost in the used book section where you can get as many books as you want for a quarter donation each.

To plot or not to plot? Are you a planner or do you just dive in?
You would think with my law background I would outline everything like I did for all the papers and briefs I wrote, but no I just dive right in and start writing. There are times I don’t even know how the story is going to end, but as you flesh out your characters and setting you will usually see there is only one logical destination.

What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?
Actually starting. I know a lot of people, including myself at one point, who talk about wanting to write a novel or a script, but when you needle them about when they are going to do it they give you every excuse in the book about why they can’t. Writing can be difficult, but to actually get the courage to start it can sometimes be nigh impossible.

Which authors have influenced you?
Harry Turtledove obviously gets a lot of credit for turning me onto to alternate history, but guys like SM Stirling and Eric Flint have had a greater influence on how I actually write it. I know a lot of people don’t think highly of Stephen King, but I haven’t found anyone who can write such realistic character dialogue as he can. I also have to give a shout out JK Rowling, Aaron Allston and Alastair Reynolds.

Tell us a little about your story that’s about to be published.
It is a steampunk retelling of the classic fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk and is called The Enchanted Bean. Here is the description from the back of Once Upon a Clockwork Tale:

How do you reach a fabled land of giants without any magic beans? Build an airship, of course. A British adventurer takes to the skies seeking wealth and glory, instead he finds ancient gods ruling an oppressive flying kingdom. With the help of their allies, these former masters of men want to replant the World Tree and rebuild their war machines. To stop the sky from falling, our hero will have to do more than chop down a beanstalk.

I really enjoyed writing this tale. Although it is more “pulp” than “punk”, I think readers will enjoy this adventure tale that pokes fun at some of the common steampunk tropes.

What are you working on next?
I have another short story called “Road Trip” being published by The Masquerade Crew this summer in a time travel anthology. More information on that to be announced.

After that I am finally going to sit down and try writing a novel-length story. I don’t want to give too much away (or fall into the mind trap of talking about writing instead of doing it), but it is a space opera set in the far future.

Thought I was going to write an alternate history? Nah, I’m too weird for that.

And finally, what advice would you give a new writer?
Don’t be disappointed if you are not the next Shakespeare. For every Mozart there are millions of Antonio Salieris. There are best-selling authors out there who wish there hands could dance over the keyboard like some of the greats. To paraphrase Stephen King, most people are competent writers, but it takes hard work to become a good writer and you need to win the genetic lottery to be a great writer. Work hard, keep improving yourself and have plenty of patience.

A great piece of advice to finish on!

Where to find Matt:
Facebook profile
The AHWUpdate page on Facebook
Alternate History Weekly Update – the site
Twitter: @MattMitrovich (personal), @ahwupdate (The Update’s)
Matt’s writing blog